The Selma City Council has voted to put in a 60-day contract cancellation notice with the company running the day-to-day operations of the St. James Hotel.

The council approved giving Strand Management the notice during Tuesday’s council meeting.

City Councilwoman Angela Benjamin said during a meeting with Strand officials, the company asked to be let out of the contract after just 30 days on March 31.

Selma City Attorney Jimmy Nunn said Strand also asked to be released of any liability and that they were owed $25,000.

“I would not recommend us to sign any kind of release until we can review their audit, see whether or not we need a forensic audit of our own,” Nunn said. “I would not recommend as it is written.”

The council decided against letting Strand out of the contract early and signing any kind of waiver.

They also decided to hire a forensic auditor to look into the hotel’s bookkeeping since last summer. Benny Tucker voted against the audit, saying he didn’t know how much it would cost.

City Treasurer Ronita Wade briefed the council earlier last month on several accounting issues she found in just a three-week informal audit of the hotel from October, the first month of the budget year, and that she has had trouble getting reports from hotel managers.

Verhonda Sercey, a regional operations director for Strand, said all the issues could have been cleared up if the company had received Wade’s findings beforehand.

“All of the things in the report we could have cleared up had we been allowed to actually see the report and help [Wade] uncover what she was looking for,” Sercey said during a work session in February. “Our auditor has uncovered three-fourths of what she said she found.”

The council also talked about bringing in a local manager to help during the busy weeks ahead with the Bridge Crossing Jubilee and Battle of Selma anniversaries. No action was taken in Monday’s meeting but the issue is expected to be taken up during a work session Wednesday, March 4 at 4 p.m.